glitter 'n glue halloween greeting cards

as many of you are, i'm a fan of aleene's original tacky glue from way, way back. now there are so many aleene's glues and adhesives to choose from—wet, dry, clear, sprays, tapes, dots, some for paper, some for fabric, heavy-duty, fast-drying—it's quite a comprehensive line.

i've become especially fond of the clear gel tacky glue for my cardmaking. it's great for glittering and also for adhering small or narrow embellishments because it's clear, strong, and the bottle has a small pointy tip.

then when i was on craft wars, one of the most fun things we did was glitter a denim-covered tree trunk using a spray adhesive. so of course i was thrilled to see a can of aleene's crystal clear tacky spray in my box of supplies from i love to create!

i recently got a couple bat diecuts from an atc swap that i wanted to use while the occasion is upon us, plus i wanted to try using the tacky spray with a mask (pun intended) to glitter up a background for a halloween card.

so here we go...trick-or-treat...glitter my feet!

- use a tiny piece of folded painter's tape to temporarily hold your mask in position on top of the front of your folded card (use another bit of tape to keep card closed too). choose a color of card stock that complements the color of your glitter. I used a gray card with black glitter.

- on small projects, you can keep spray adhesive contained by spraying it inside a grocery bag, and you should work near an open window.

- the can sprays best when holding it straight up, so another little piece of painter's tape on the back of your card will keep it on the bottom of the bag so you can set the bag on it's side and make the card vertical. spray the card evenly and rather generously with adhesive, then quickly pour on the glitter.

- i learned that if you don't get good enough coverage of the spray before adding the glitter, the glitter will stick at first, but then you can easily brush most of it off after the adhesive is dry. my first attempt might have become an epic craft-fail, but turns out i actually liked how the random puff of glitter that i was left with looked kinda smoky and eerie around the keyhole mask.

- on my second try with another mask, i did achieve a lovely solid glitter coverage that stuck - but more on that in another post. today i am celebrating how to turn a mistake into a design opportunity!!

- i covered some of my embellishments with aleene's clear gel tacky glue, poured orange glitter on them, and set aside to dry.

- for the masked card with the puff of glitter smoke, i dabbed a sponge on a purple ink pad and gently rubbed some color around the smoke. then i edged the card with a purple marker, and used aleene's clear gel tacky glue to attach my embellishments.

- for the second card, i added brads to the top and bottom of my gorgeous black-glittered keyhole diecut, distressed some pretty purple patterned paper with dabs of the purple ink pad, and used aleene's clear gel tacky glue to adhere everything on to a black folded card
(i used a little black foam adhesive square under the left side of the key to balance it).

i'm looking forward to trying more of the aleene's glues and adhesives from i love to create!

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check out all these other great projects using aleene's!